SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Los Angeles City leaders are getting closer to dissolving their red light camera program which issues $480 dollar tickets to drivers, and this may have other California cities rethinking their own programs.

L.A. could stop issuing red light violations as early as Sunday if the city council votes Wednesday to ditch the program which critics have called unfair to drivers, in addition to not being cost effective.

In San Carlos, the city is letting its contract expire in November with the company that runs its red light camera.

“We brought in the program because we had a very specific intersection where there was a problem with red-light runners and what’s happened in the time that we’ve had the red light camera is that the number of violations has dropped pretty dramatically,” said Assistant City Manager Brian Moura.

Last year Burlingame pulled the plug on its camera program saying it wasn’t catching as many violators as anticipated.

KCBS’ Holly Quan Reports:

Bay Area Cities May Follow L.A.’s Lead In Abolishing Red Light Cameras

In San Francisco, however, where some two dozen intersections have red light cameras, officials are looking to add more.

“I really think that the absence of a public outcry about problems with it suggest something to me,” said Tom Nolan, president of the Municipal Transportation Agency. “Generally speaking we really do hear from people when something is not working, or they’re unhappy with something. It certainly hasn’t come to the board at least.”

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